Missing (6 Feb. 2002)

A former aide for a state senator disappears and later turns up dead. The investigation uncovers an affair with a powerful state official, and that she was pregnant.

Director:

David Platt

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Eric Overmyer,

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Jesse L. Martin	...	Detective Ed Green
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy
Elisabeth Röhm	...	A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn
Dianne Wiest	...	D.A. Nora Lewin
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joanna Adler	...	Amber Woods
Steven Boyer	...	Scott Purdy
Anna Damergis	...	Lisa Edwards
Rich Duva	...	CSU
Lynnda Ferguson	...	Mrs. Edwards
Barney Fitzpatrick	...	Doorman
Glenn Fleshler	...	Don Hamilton
C. Kavanagh Harris	...	Athletic Director
Leslie Hendrix	...	Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers

Storyline

A former aide for a state senator disappears and later turns up dead. The investigation uncovers an affair with a powerful state official, and that she was pregnant.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 2002 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Studios USA Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Loosely based on the ''Ripped from the Headlines'' news story of California Congressman Gary Condit and missing intern Chandra Levy, whose skeletal remains were later found in a Washington, D.C. park.

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Quotes

Detective Lennie Briscoe: [looking through a missing woman's apartment] Her wallet's here... makeup's on the night stand.
Detective Ed Green: [in the bathroom] Toothbrush.
Detective Lennie Briscoe: So we're looking for a girl with no makeup and fuzzy teeth.

User Reviews

Anyone else spot the gaping flaw?

Don't get me wrong, I love L & O, so I found it quite surprising that they made such an obvious error (admittedly only obvious to me about 5 minutes after it finished :-) ).

Entertainment-wise, the episode is well up to the usual standard, so maybe I'm just nitpicking; but I did wonder if anybody else spotted it. If you want to watch for yourself and see if you can, DON'T read on.

SPOILER:

The twist in the tail suggests that the wife might have conspired to the murder; however, that would require there to have been collusion between her and her husband's biker friend, who actually *did* do it (not in question). Otherwise, how could she have known who to pay?

Not only is that not even suggested in the preamble, but it seems highly unlikely (a) that she would have had such a close relationship with a none-too-kosher chum of her husband, and (b) that she could have found a way to link her husband to the crime at all (the idea we're supposed to buy is that she incriminated him as an act of revenge).

At the very least the writers are guilty of introducing 'facts not in evidence'; at worst, it doesn't really hang together at all.

However, the episode does say that it was inspired by a real-life incident, which makes me wonder what it was.